We're getting married!

Our love is a story of firsts. Please see some of our greatest firsts from throughout the years.

We went to Besitos in West Hartford. I had a chile relleno and Jeff had mole poblano, and at the end of the meal we got two tiny worry dolls, each probably half an inch tall. I didn't know at the time that Mexican food would play such a big role in our lives. We went back in 2016 after Trinity homecoming, and it was just as delicious. We still have the dolls in a small box on my bureau.

I had never been to a Seder before, had only met Alyssa's parents once, had not met the rest of her family, and we had only been dating for about a month. Despite all of this, all of Alyssa's family welcomed me with open arms, taught me the Passover (and their family) traditions, and showed me that it is possible to go without leavened bread. I've been invited back to Seders ever since, so I must not have made too much of a fool of myself.

We had only been dating for four months, but neither of us thought we were rushing anything. The apartment was small, but it was in a beautiful old brownstone on a gorgeous tree-lined street in Hoboken. We could see the Hudson River from the front stoop and there was a cute little park across the street. If only there was laundry closer than three blocks away.

It was terrifying. And hard. On my third day, the gondola broke and I had to ride down the mountain on a trail I was not ready for, with Jeff riding backwards and holding my hands the whole way. But I knew that up on that mountain was Jeff's happy place, so I stuck with it and got better. Now, I can ride a black trail (still working on the bumps) and snowboarding has taken me to incredible places I never would have been to otherwise.

I'm what you would call rhythmically illiterate. I know that Alyssa took a huge step in picking up snowboarding from scratch and learning to love it but I equated taking Zumba classes more to learning how to fly a 747 as opposed to learning how to do a delightful outdoor activity. That being said, I had heard about how Alyssa had developed a cult following at her Zumba class in Jersey City and I wanted to see what she did every week. Once I took the class, I was blown away at how passionate she taught, how approachable she made an incredibly difficult activity, and how much her students adored her. It killed me when we had to move away and she had to leave the class, but hopefully the students have forgiven me by now.

During the summer of 2016, I was between my first and second year at NYU. I was presented with a great opportunity to intern at New Balance. The job was exactly what I wanted and I had the opportunity to work for a company that my family grew up with. However, this internship also meant that I would have to move to Boston for the summer and leave Alyssa behind in New Jersey. For 11 long weeks, we had to cross state lines to be together. Although this was the most difficult summer in our lives and we had to learn to live alone, this time taught us how to be even more independent while also cherishing every second that we had together.

Jeff had been planning to propose that weekend in Rhode Island for months. Friday morning, he texted Lyss's parents to tell them it would be that night. As the sun set, he walked Lyss down to the edge of the water and got down on one knee. She started bawling, and for the first time was at a loss for words. It had been exactly five years and four months since they started dating, so its no wonder that when they picked a date to get married it was only eight months out. And we're so excited to share that day, another first in our life together, with all of you!